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The Hyundai Elantra is a subcompact that has been around since a long time. Although not much of an attention grabber, it is apparently a sales success in the Middle East, owing to the great exterior design and price tag. However, the Koreans’ penchant to continually evolve meant that Hyundai finally went all-in to make the car a more complete package rather than just a looker. And how the all-new 2016 Hyundai Elantra has grown from its past is what we were to witness when the local dealer invited us for a day-long media event that included an extensive test-drive.

Downsizing is rampant nowadays, and the same goes for premium cars. We’re not talking about job losses, but the size of cars. The Audi A3 started life as a lacklustre hatchback about a decade ago, and we called it out as such back then. However, it’s changed over the years, and the new sedan version of the latest A3 has been getting some attention lately. And with good reason, from what we saw.

The Delorean was never a good car, garnering cult status only by appearing the 1980s Back to the Future movie franchise. However, the DMC-12 will re-enter production next year, and will be sold as a new car with some much-needed upgrades.

Porsche is going to rebadge their Boxster and Cayman as “718” models this year, complete with 4-cylinder turbo engines, the first of which have just been revealed. However, the GTS models will get a stay of execution from the turbo era for now. We drove the last of these naturally-aspirated mid-engined Porsches late last year in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Jaguar F-Type Project 7 made its debut at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed on 26 June as a concept car, but it has now become the first Jaguar performance vehicle from Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations team, produced in a limited-edition run of “up to” 250 units. It apparently pays tribute to the three-time Le Mans-winning D-type, which in 2014 celebrated its 60th anniversary year. The Project 7’s name pays homage to Jaguar’s seven outright Le Mans wins. The car is now on sale in the GCC.

Going from a body-on-frame SUV to a crossover has been a big win for the Ford Explorer. Although we were underwhelmed by its performance, it clearly clicked with a lot of people who were fine with its standard V6. However, the Sport comes with the EcoBoost turbo V6, and it transforms this people-mover into a more interesting vehicle.